Illusion & Dream
by Meri Kaisla
Summary: AU. For Harry, it all had started one night at the park. Forward came a man, who had no problems with messing his life forever. Mostly characters from Naruto & Harry Potter, also some from Yu Yu Hakusho.
1. Sarcastic remarks

**A/N:** Hello, and sorry for not updating Insomnia for a while! This is something my brains cooked up when I was careless, and even though I have been inspired by many other stories, fear not, this child is unique. Warnings: Language, though in this first one its not so bad. But some of these characters just talk rudely. Be prepared for it. 

**Disclaimer:** No… I still don't own Harry Potter, Yu Yu Hakusho, Naruto OR the song Illusion & Dream. This disclaimer is for the whole story; I trust that in the following chapters you already know I own nothing.

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**Chapter 1 – Sarcastic remarks**

For Harry, it all had started one night at the park. First there was only he and the endless, starless night – perfect scenery for silent brooding. It was summer, so the nights were relatively warm. He was fresh out of his first year at Hogwats, and was more than fed up with his relatives already. It was so long until the next school year started…

It was then he met Sensui-san the first time. He seemed so like Harry: neither one of them seemed to have anything better to do, so they sat down and talked. Harry was instantly awed by the way the man was so different from others: he did not treat Harry like a child, even though they both knew eleven was not quite that old.

Sensui-san never lied to Harry. Instead, he opened his eyes to the way others lied to him. Harry had had hard time believing it – after all, after his first year, Dumbledore was everyone's personal hero – but when Sensui-san and his friend, Itsuki-san, took Harry to the Department of Mysteries, Harry could see and hear the proof with his own eyes. No one cared for him because of him: he was worshipped because of some prophecy, because he would save them all.

Sensui-san said that he didn't care whether Harry saved them or not. He said Harry was above such things. But if Harry really wanted to do it, he needed to be strong. And Sensui-san just happened to know the perfect place to train. Would Harry care to join them, perhaps?

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Ron Weasley's first question was: "Did the muggles kill him?" when he found out that Harry Potter was neither in the platform nor the train. Hermione Granger had of course strictly put him back to his place for even _suggesting_ such a thing, but that did not erase the fact that Harry was nowhere to be seen. Teachers or the Headmaster proved to be of no use too, since Dumbledore summoned THEM before him to ask, if THEY knew anything about Harry's absence.

Dumbledore tried to keep it quiet, but in the end it could not be helped: they had to alert the whole magical community, and still none came forward with any clues. The silence was absolute.

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For the first time in his life, Harry had a team. He had a family. His new brothers were called Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, and usually the two of them used their time pretending they didn't get along. Sasuke had come first, and Naruto had followed him shortly afterwards, claiming that he could not go back until the promise he made with Sakura-chan could be fulfilled. Since Sasuke wouldn't go back because of anything Naruto said or did, he had little choice but to join them. Their new master, Orochimaru-sama, had obviously found the situation terribly funny (Harry still had sometimes nightmares about the way his eyes had bulked with glee) and had allowed Naruto to stay, under the condition, of course, that Naruto would work for him.

Orochimaru-sama had a large underground mansion in the Country of Field. He had his own ninja village called Hidden Sound, but truthfully, it could not be called much of a village at all… Usual ninja villages had plenty of ninjas from all ranks plus civilians, and they usually had many buildings instead of just one large one. The only civilians in Orochimaru-sama's village were the servants, and there was really no use trying to learn their names: they were just pawns to be used, and usually they didn't last even a week in the dark underworld.

Then there were the ninjas: under Orochimaru-sama's direct command was Yakushi Kabuto, who was obviously relentlessly trying to replace Sensui as Orochimaru-sama's chief manipulator. Kabuto was also a medic, so he was the one responsible for healing them – but truth to be told, usually everyone rather gritted their teeth and sucked it up than went to see Kabuto-san.

Then there were the Sound Five (or rather Sound Six – Harry had no idea how they could count the twins as one person), Orochimaru-sama's loyal guards. They all had some form of attitude problems: Jiroubou, who was the weakest, was a large man who always considered everyone else to be pawns to be left behind. Tayuya, the only girl, thought everyone else was just a piece of shit. Kidoumaru thought he was the wisest and always made fun of others. The twins Ukon and Sakon were really creepy, after all when they went out Ukon usually merged into Sakon and they travelled as one. Not quite normal, that was… And their leader was by far the worst of them: his name was Kaguya Kimimaro, he lived to serve Orochimaru-sama, and he had absolutely no complaints about the fact that someday, when Kimimaro was finally recovered from his disease, Orochimaru-sama would take over his body and walk around in it until he would find someone better. Only after that Kimimaro would be officially dead.

It was no secret that Sasuke was Orochimaru-sama's backup plan. If Kimimaro never recovered, Sasuke would be the new Dream Container. Sasuke wasn't too pleased about this possibility, so, ironically enough, he and his team had found themselves wishing all the best for a guy they hated. If Kimimaro died, Sasuke'd be screwed, and nobody wanted that. Naruto especially hated that possibility: Sakura-chan definitely would not like it if he'd bring back Orochimaru, who was WEARING her beloved Sasuke-kun.

There were two teams actively doing missions for Orochimaru. He had some fooled, manipulated or threatened individuals also, but only two official teams. First was Harry's team, and the second was a team consisting of Zaku Abumi, Kin Tsuchi and Dosu Kinuta. They were the rivals of Harry's team.

The deal was that Harry, Sasuke and Naruto were special cases. One had gifted eyes and was The Backup Plan, one had a demon fox sealed inside and the third had a funny wooden stick he sometimes relied on when he couldn't beat his teammates in traditional ninja arts. They had a special place in Orochimaru-sama's line of command. The others weren't allowed to touch them. They had nice rooms, plenty of food and servants, and even though in normal standards their lives were far from nice and comfortable, in Hidden Sound point of view they had unmatched luxuries. And the Sound Trio wanted those.

Yes, Orochimaru-sama had his Sound Five and his Sound Trio, but Harry's team didn't have such a name. Orochimaru-sama always called them by their own names (a one more proof that they were special). Others called them what they liked. Harry always referred to them as the Unruly Hair Club (unfortunately so true…) and Naruto thought they were Pranksters United. Sasuke didn't have a standing opinion about it.

Kidoumaru said they were The Chibi Team. He laughed his ass of the first day Harry asked about the usage of wands, but was abruptly cut of when Harry drew his wand and used the silencing spell on him. Tayuya was really impressed by it and immediately asked if Harry could also silence the fat idiot Jiroubou while he was at it. 'The fat idiot' was quick to remind Tayuya that women shouldn't talk like that. Not that Tayuya ever listened, anyway.

Together, their lives were less than harmonious. The best thing that could be said about them was that they occasionally could fit in the same room without trying to kill each other. Luckily for all of them, usually they didn't have to.

Harry's team and Sound Five had rooms in the same floor as Orochimaru-sama and Kabuto-san. Kabuto-san's infirmary was also in the same floor. The others, including Sound Trio, had to stay in a less secure place. Sound Trio had their own rooms (small and dark, according to them), the others stayed in a one big room.

Orochimaru-sama didn't really like it when they took the habit of staying out just for fun. He didn't mind when they went out for missions, but being in too close contact with trees would just unhealthily remind them (at least Naruto and Sasuke) of Konoha and their former lives, remind them of better, lighter places where one could afford to just lay in the grass and never worry about tomorrow.

He needn't worry. It didn't matter where Naruto was, he still couldn't forget The Promise He made With Sakura-chan, or the hitae-ate Iruka-sensei gave him, or the way Kakashi-sensei was always late. Sasuke could never truly forget his brother, the one he must kill. The one he would do anything to kill. And after being first told about his parents' death, about the prophecy and Voldemort, Harry couldn't forget his purpose either.

It was the same. It didn't really matter: the house in Privet Drive, the hellish Dursleys, friends and warmth in Konoha, coldness and loneliness in solitude, or the underground mansion in Hidden Sound and its twisted leader. At least this way they felt like they were finally _doing_ something.

At least they weren't living in the illusion anymore, like Sensui-san had told them.

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**Yes**, at this point I would really like to remind you all that this is AU. It's much more fun to have all of them alive. Yet it's not clear what other things are different in the Naruto world, but trust me, we are getting there. And yes, I'm going to tell more about Sensui and his methods. He didn't convince Harry to go with him as easily as it may seem.

All comments are welcome!


	2. Six years later

**Chapter 2 – Six years later**

"I'm afraid I have some bad news to you, my friends… "Albus Dumbledore said, looking sadly at his comrades in arms, the ever-so-brave Order of the Phoenix. "It has come to my attention that the Dark Lord Voldemort has risen yet again."

Horrified silence greeted this announcement.

Ronald Weasley, eighteen-years-old member of the Order, snorted softly. "Big surprise", he muttered.

"Quiet", Sirius Black said and slapped Ron gently on the head.

Dumbledore glanced at them before continuing: "There is one thing we need to do before we can even think about defeating him. **We need to find Harry Potter**."

This time the silence was slightly brooding, until one impatient redhead yet again broke it. "How?" Ron asked sarcastically. "He's been long gone all these years… Do you even have a single clue as to where to find him?"

"Ron, you are starting to make me regret we let you join", his mother Molly Weasley said threateningly.

"Give it a brake, Molly, the boy has a point", Sirius interrupted.

"Do you have some clues we are yet to be informed of?" Remus Lupin asked politely, his eyebrow arched quizzically, his eyes staring unblinkingly at the aging Headmaster. "If you have, then please, do tell."

The Headmaster's eyes gained some of their old twinkle. "There is a strange place in East… I don't know what it is called, but it consists of several independent countries. The strongest of them are called the Five Shinobi Nations – "

"Shinobi?" Hermione Granger whispered. "Oh, I've read about them! They are also called 'ninja', am I correct?"

"Yes, that is true", Dumbledore confirmed, and Ron muttered: "Five points to Gryffindor!" earning a slap from Hermione and a glare from his mother.

"Anyhow", Dumbledore continued, eyeing Ron his eyebrows held high, "I've heard an odd rumour about that place… First of all that there is a major disturbance caused by a… ah, a some form of 'snake pervert' – "

At this point, Sirius and Ron promptly doubled over with laughter. Hermione and Lupin looked bewildered, and Molly Weasley made loud hushing sounds, trying to make the laughing men quiet down. "Excuse me?" Minerva McGonagall asked with a rather strained voice. "A snake… what?"

"Oh my god Albus", Sirius barked between his laughter, "Where on EARTH… did you EVER… get this information from?"

The Headmaster had the nerve to actually look sheepish. "Well… My informer is known for vague answers and rather colourful language… But it leads me to believe that Voldemort might have something to do with it."

The sound of the Dark Lord's name quieted down everyone else than Sirius, who was still sniggering softly.

"Also, I have been informed that under the command of this snake… person – ", Sirius started to laugh again, " – there are several runaway ninjas and a strange boy – no one really knows where he came from. I was told that this boy possesses a 'stick of miracles' that makes wishes came true."

He let his gaze slid over the members and smiled warmly. "Yes, it definitely fits the description of a wand. Besides, this boy is said to be a short teenager, who could be eighteen like Harry would be now."

"So, you want us to go chasing dreams, no do you?" Ron muttered.

"Ronald Weasley!" his mother screamed.

"Full of air, as always", Snape sneered. "Too afraid to go, so he says it can't be true. Must be a Weasley trait."

Ron and his father both blushed deeply. Ron had to defend his family honour, especially in front of Hermione. He had to make everyone see that the Weasley family was great. He jumped to his feet. "Now who's talking!" he shouted. "You just say that because you know you can't go! But I bet that if I go I'll beat the crap out of that stupid snake, be it you-know-who or not, while with my other hand I will solve the thing about the magic stick boy! So take that!"

"Ah, it seems like we have a volunteer", Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"Uh, what?" Ron blinked. Hermione groaned and buried her head in her hands.

"In that case, I will go too", Sirius said, his eyes gleaming almost scarily, "but only if our dear potions master joins us too."

Snape blinked. "But that is just ridiculous", he blurted.

"Sounds like a deal", Remus smiled. "I will go too to keep you from killing each other."

"Me too", Hermione said, standing up. "Someone has to make sure this group doesn't forget its purpose."

"But I just can't… Headmaster…"

"Severus, I'm sure that Voldemort also wants his fingers to this", Dumbledore said with a pleasant smile. "You can tell about this when you next visit him, can you not? I'm sure he'll understand…"

Snape sighed in defeat and looked at heavens for help. God, a trip with some blasted former Gryffindors. What could be more fun?

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"So", Hermione started briskly the moment they were out of the meeting, "who will be the leader of this group?"¨

Ron straightened his back. "I think, since I was the first to – "

Snape snorted. "Don't be ridiculous, Weasley", he snapped in his best I-am-your-evil-teacher-here-to-tell-you-you-know-nothing voice. "You being the leader would be the doom of this trip."

"Snivellus, this is scary but I actually agree with you". Sirius said, looking puzzled. "Unbelievable."

Snape looked like he was going to snap back, not to mention what Ron looked like, so Hermione stepped in again. "I think that professor Lupin would be the best choice, don't you agree?"

After a moment's silence, Snape spoke: "Well, it could work out relatively well. I guess in that case I will have to prepare some Wolfsbane potion to our dear leader."

Ron still looked rather grumpy. "And what, pray tell, are we going to do when Lupin is A FREAKING WOLF? Who is going to lead the group then?"

Snape looked humourlessly at him. "I'm sure he'll still be more useful than you would."

Sirius smirked. "Yes, he can guide us with the cute waggling of his tail…"

"Suddenly I'm starting to have second thoughts about this… "Lupin muttered.

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In the meantime, the newly risen Lord Voldemort, who was mistakenly thought to be behind the happening in East, was… slightly confused. There was no Harry Potter to be seen, no Order to battle, and the wizarding world was surprisingly quiet about his return. It was as though he could walk in the bright daylight to the nearest shop to buy some butterbeer and only be told to have a nice day and come again.

Like, really. What WAS the Order doing? Where they trying to give the country to him nicely wrapped in brown paper?

It smelled like a trap.

"Wormtail", he hissed. "Get Snape here, at once."

When Snape arrived, the spy had a very peculiar expression on his face. It was easy to tell that he was frustrated about something. And when the Dark Lord heard his story… well, if he had been anyone else but the terribly cool dark heir of Slytherin, he would have a. gaped or b. laughed. Since he wasn't, the only thing he could do was to _crucio_ Snape a bit, and when he still insisted on the same story, to finally believe him.

So Dumbledore was chasing after a dream, now was he?

For all he cared, Harry Potter – if he was alive, that is – was a dead man walking. This way Lord Voldemort could not have the pleasure of killing him himself, but oh well… this could work out just as well. His thin lips curved into a twisted smirk, and he turned his red eyes at the shivering potions master. "Severus", he hissed. "I have some plans for you…"

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**A/N: That's right everyone, Sirius Black is back!** Or actually, besides from spending some time in Azkaban, he was never gone. I'm still working on the details, though, but yes, Wormtail was involved and unfortunately walked out of it alive. Sorry, I was just too lazy to invent another stupid pawn for Voldemort to use. But as you may have noticed, things didn't go as smoothly as in the books despite the fact that Harry was no longer bothering the Dark Lord in his quest for eternal life and world dominance. It took Voldemort four years longer to regain his body. Gosh, I'm so cruel to him. Poor Tom.


	3. January

**ABOUT UPDATES:** This story is going to require some thought and time, so I decided to finish my other story, Insomnia, before concentrating on this one. This means updates for this story won't come very often, but please note that I will NOT ABANDON this story. Please don't give up on me.

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** Chapter 3 – January**

Six years had passed, and Sakura wasn't a child anymore. She didn't carry the dreams of a child in her chest anymore. She was nineteen, she was a woman, and she was a praised medic thanks to Tsunade-sama's training. She knew what she wanted from life. The fact that she wanted Sasuke back had nothing to do with love: she wanted back BOTH of her brothers, she wanted Naruto as well as Sasuke to return, and she definitely wanted to see their Team 7 reunited.

She wanted them to be together, even though she knew nothing would be the same again.

"Yo, I'm home", Hatake Kakashi said quietly, slipping noiselessly through the open window.

"Hello, and even though ninjas usually use windows to approach their targets unnoticed, they usually use doors when off duty."

"Sumimasen", Kakashi murmured, slipping back outside. Sakura lifted her head in surprise, just in time to hear the door opening behind her. Kakashi stepped in and Sakura could see his only visible eye curving happily as he lifted his hand to a greeting.

Sakura glared at him.

"So much anger in such a young girl", Kakashi murmured teasingly. Sakura decided not to grace him with a reply.

"So, did you find anything?" she inquired instead.

"Define 'anything'", Kakashi answered in an annoyingly sweet tone.

Sakura had a hard time deciding whether she should glare again or just roll her eyes. In the end she just sighed exasperatedly and said: "Never mind that, just spill it out, Copy-nin."

Kakashi didn't answer immediately. He took his time to stroll lazily to the couch, and casually stripping off his green jônin vest he sat down and sighed contently. "Well", he started with a drawl, before abruptly noticing he had yet to remove his hitae-ate, and then proceeded to slowly run his hand through his hair.

Sakura felt her foot tap impatiently against the floor. "Well?" she prompted.

Kakashi lifted his gaze, looking almost surprised to see her in the room. _Damn, he's good_, Sakura thought, gritting her teeth. Kakashi let her fume for a moment longer, before smiling pleasantly and continuing: "Oh? Yes, well, actually, I did hear something vaguely interesting…"

"Yeee-_eeeesss_?"

Kakashi looked at her solemnly. He made a motion with his hand, asking Sakura to come closer, leaned in conspiratorially and, when Sakura's ear was within his reach, he whispered: "Jiraiya-sama told me… that Ichya Ichya Supreme is coming out this summer!"

Sakura straightened abruptly and took in a deep breath.

The following situation could have been very bad, but after all, Kakashi was a genius. He knew exactly what to do: aloofness disappearing, he lifted his hand calling for attention during the few seconds it took Sakura to comprehend his words and draw in a necessary amount of a air for a scream. Sakura, knowing his eccentric habits, managed to calm herself down… at least for the moment. She was DEFINITELY going to yell at him later on, and then probably proceed to burn his beloved books (if she could find them, that is, he had taken the habit of hiding them from her, only carrying one of them with him, and to be blatantly honest, Sakura was never going to be good enough to steal that one from him), but at least for now she would let him say his last words.

"Jiraiya-sama also heard – he didn't really specify from whom exactly, and I didn't ask – that a group of strangers has entered the Five Shinobi Nations."

Sakura lifted her eyebrows in a way that indicated Kakashi had just lost his one and only chance to live. "Oh really?" she asked rather sweetly. "Like that hasn't happened before."

Kakashi's eyes curved into a smile again – he obviously didn't know he was going to die soon in a rather painful way. "Yes, but these strangers are quite extraordinary. First of all, they all wear heavy robes and cloaks in a way to make even Akatsuki jealous – and no, they're certainly not members of it. They don't react to pursuers, but one can't really tell is it because they are totally unaware that they are being followed, or is it 'cause they are just too strong to give a damn. They talk loudly, argue a lot and sometimes when they fight amongst themselves they point thin wooden sticks at each other."

"Sticks?" Sakura repeated. "That sounds just like – "she cut off suddenly and her eyes widened in realisation.

Kakashi nodded his affirmative, glad that she was catching on so quickly. "They have also been heard of asking people do they know a person called… something like Harii Pottar."

Sakura blinked. "That sounds just like…"

Kakashi smirked. "Yes, that does sound awfully like the Harii we know."

Sakura sat down beside Kakashi and smiled, having forgotten all about yelling to him – which had been pretty much Kakashi's intention to begin with. Sakura was rather easy to predict once you knew the pattern, and Kakashi had immense pleasure at first riling her up and them feeding her information that made her forget all about being angry. He suspected, though, that one day he would have to pay for all of it, but so far so good. So far Kakashi 174 – Sakura 0.

These were great news.

Harii, or Harii of the Southern wall, like his full name was by Otokagure's sordid standards, was a member of Orochimaru's infamous little trio. He and his teammates were already legends among all ninja's, mostly because of their reputation as troublemakers. They weren't exactly evil in the way Orochimaru and his followers usually were, oh no: their policy seemed to be more like 'I'm on my side, and you'd better be on my side too or else I'll sick my twisted humour on you'. It was anyone's guess why they even bothered to follow Orochimaru – Sakura didn't know, and they certainly weren't telling.

Harii himself didn't really matter to Sakura. No, it was his teammates that made her smile: for Harii of the Southern Wall was always accompanied by none others than Sasuke of the Eastern Wall and Naruto of the Western Wall.

Ridiculous names, really, but Sakura didn't care. She was too busy being glad that they didn't bother trying to hide themselves behind false identities. That made following their moves so much easier.

"So they are here to look for Harii…"softly. She lifted her green eyes and smiled warmly at her dearest friend. She didn't really have to tell him what she was thinking: she already knew he knew. Her smile turned into a grin, as she tilted her head to the side and winked at Kakashi. "So… When are we going?"

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"Ahh, warmth!" Sirius exclaimed loudly, stretching his arms and almost managing to oh-so-accidentally to bludgeon Snape on the face. The potions master sidestepped swiftly and proceeded to strike him with his freezing glare. Sirius didn't even notice.

"It's hard to believe it's January", Hermione said softly, sweeping her untidy brown hair from her eyes and glancing up towards the cloudless sky. "I think I might have packed wrong clothing with me."

She had already taken off her cloak and robe, and was now wearing green trousers and red t-shirt ("Christmas colours", Snape muttered and closed his eyes as if just looking at her hurt his eyes). She didn't really like the combination either, but she hadn't really though she would be attacked by heat the moment their intercontinental flying train had dropped them off to this place. Their ride had left early in the morning, and as she was wearing several robes and cloaks to shelter herself from the abnormally cold winter, she had thought no one would care what she was wearing under them. So she had just grabbed a few clothes she hadn't already packed and… well that was the last time she was dressing in the dark. Next time, lights on.

Sirius and Ron had followed her example, and most amusingly they were wearing exactly same colour combination: black trousers and a blue shirt. They had glanced at each other swiftly upon finding out this little fact, and Ron hadn't looked too pleased about it (Sirius looked better in blue than he did, and Hermione would definitely notice). After a few moments in the sun they noticed also that yes, Ron's skin was as sensitive as ever: his face, neck and hands turned in the sunlight to the same colour as his hair. Sirius blinked at it but decided he was too nice to comment about it. Snape, on the other hand, looked rather amused (in a cold, creepy way) and sniffed rather Malfoy-like: "Nice camouflage, _Weasley_."

Lupin had left on his brown cloak, and looked rather content lifting his pale face towards the sun. He didn't get to enjoy much of sunlight on regular basis, and well, since the sun was opposite to the moon… Lupin sighed softly and imagined the beast in him growling in irritation and drawing further back inside his body.

Snape either didn't wear anything under his robe or considered their muggle outfits too improper for him: anyhow, he was still in his deep black and obviously thick robe, sweating profusely under the blazing sun. He tried to look as if he felt perfectly cool, but he couldn't hide the sweat that was dripping done his long nose. He probably wouldn't admit anything before he got a heatstroke.

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The rather infamous trio was currently returning from a mission. At the present moment they were standing on a cliff – or more like, Sasuke and Harry were standing, Naruto was posing. He was on one of his expeditions to lighten up the mood, and was now busy imitating Maito Gai, the rather extraordinary former teacher of one of their genin groups. Harry had never seen Gai-sensei before, but after all, this was Naruto, so he didn't drop his eyes when Naruto struck a rather suggestive position his hips brought forward, his other hand on his waistline and the other high in the air, shouting loudly: "Yosh! I'm the oh-so-beautiful obviously-colour-blind beast of Konoha! Fear before me, for I shall strike you with my fists of love!"

"Who are you to talk about colour-blindness anyway, _baka_?" Sasuke inquired almost lazily, shielding his eyes and glancing towards the sun, perhaps just in an effort to ignore Naruto. Harry grinned wryly: yep, Naruto didn't wear his obnoxious orange outfit anymore, but that didn't mean he had given up on it. He wore the same kind of outfit the Sound Five did: sleeveless long shirt and black trousers, with a ridiculously big and thick obi on his waist. But where Sasuke and Harry's shirts were a shade of pearly grey, Naruto's was pale yellow, and his obi wasn't purple, it was orange.

He was a little sunspot and it definitely DID hurt to look at him.

Especially when he was posing.

Naruto whirled around and sniffed indignantly. "You are just jealous", he announced. "You don't pose even half as well as I do, and besides your outfit looks like you failed to wash it a couple times too often."

Harry smirked. "He's still more popular than you are… and would still be no matter what he did to himself – or failed to do, for that matter."

"I don't pose", Sasuke drawled, looking too bored to have this conversation.

"How do you know you don't do it unconsciously?" Harry inquired, lifting his eyebrow.

"Yeah, he probably does!" Naruto guffawed.

"'Probably'? So you've never seen him do it?" Harry continued. At this point, both Sasuke and Naruto turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. "Hell, whose side are you on?" Naruto asked incredulously.

Harry thought about it for a moment, then offered them a sweet, beautiful smile and a relatively innocent: "My side?"

"Gee, how didn't I see _that_ coming?" Naruto asked with sarcasm he didn't have a few years back. Growing up with Harry and Sasuke was definitely rubbing off on him.

Sasuke smirked slightly and Harry smiled, then Sasuke in his own nonchalant way just walked of, and Harry and Naruto hurried after him without a word.

Itachi was the only thing they really argued about – these little conversations didn't annoy any of them enough to make them angry, whereas only the mentioning of Itachi's name was enough to make Sasuke explode. Neither Harry nor Naruto could understand Sasuke's view about the matter, and they constantly tried to make him change his mind. Okay, so Sasuke's brother was an evil, twisted, cold, brutal, unemotional and ungrateful brat who definitely deserved to die… But still, wasn't it Itachi's own idea all along? Itachi was the one who invented the whole 'come and kill me' fiasco in the first place. But Sasuke would have none of it: it was his idea, the only dream and ambition he had cradled in his heart every day, every night its flames had warmed him when he couldn't sleep… To rip it from his was like tearing his heart right out of his chest.

Was it so selfish from Harry and Naruto to try to make him forget it?

Back in his former life, Hermione's Golden Rule was 'when in doubt, go to library'. Theirs was 'When in doubt, go to Sensui-san'.

Sasuke didn't trust Sensui-san enough to want to talk to him, but Harry was a blind follower. Sort of. He knew Sensui-san was an avid manipulator, who messed with people for his living, for his goals, and sometimes for pure enjoyment, but for Harry he was always the one who set him free. Harry wasn't exactly happy in here either, but at least he was mostly content. He didn't have to live in the cupboard nor did anyone try to monitor him because of some dark lord, suppress his ability because of his parents or try to kill him because of some prophecy he didn't even make. In here, when someone wronged him, they did it because of him and not for what anyone else had done or said.

Besides, Sensui-san was so intriguing. He had a very black and white view of good and evil, but in any other way he wasn't as intolerant as everyone else. After all, his companion and loyal comrade Itsuki-san was clearly interested in boys, more specifically in Sensui-san, yet Sensui-san never showed any dislike towards him because of it. In Harry's opinion that was very noble: if Sasuke or Naruto would suddenly start showing hints of same kind of preferences towards him, Harry would have a fit.

Oh, probably he would react worse. He couldn't really think about it, his brains wanted to explode every time he tried.

That's why he had always been so keen to listen back when Naruto used to go on and on about some girl called Sakura. He stopped that habit after Sasuke, growing bored of hearing about their pink-haired former teammate, stated quite bluntly that Sakura had never given a damn about Naruto and never would. Instead, a girl called Hinata had always had an eye for him. Hadn't Naruto noticed? And poor Naruto, after that he was so shocked he didn't talk for a day.

Quite an impressive feat from a girl who wasn't even present then.


	4. Observations

**Chapter 4 – Observations**

Hermione kind of liked this new country. It was warm and filled with nature, the villages were small and peaceful, and the people were friendly and kind. The food was exotic and tasted a bit odd to her, but she was not too picky – Ron was the one she felt embarrassed for every time they wandered into a small food stand or a restaurant and the redhead loudly complained about the looks of every food that was brought in front of him. After the first three embarrassments Snape finally lifted his wand and silenced the boy, earning for the first time in history a feeling of true gratefulness from someone else – namely every other person of their little group. As a thanks Sirius didn't even this time mock the way Snape ate.

Every time they met villagers or stopped in a town they asked about the boy with the 'stick of miracles'. The boy was actually quite famous, and it was only five days after their arrival when they heard his name. Though the name, Harii of the Southern Wall, did make Ron burst into uncontrollable fit of giggles, they were all immensely pleased to hear that indeed, the boy they were looking for was almost definitely the Harry they wanted to catch. The farther they went into the countryside, the more stories they heard about the boy and his group. All of the stories were not very flattering, though most of them were about pranks and acts of mischief Harii and his other friend, a blond guy called Naruto, had committed. Harii's other friend and the third member of his team was considered to be calmer and more composed, and was usually responsible for getting the other two out of trouble. Every time someone mentioned the boy's surname Uchiha, people widened their eyes and nodded knowingly. Hermione had yet to figure out what that was supposed to mean.

It was on the seventh day of the trip when they got their first piece of really valuable information. They had stopped into a small roadside restaurant to eat something before entering the large fields ahead. The owner was a busy looking man with weirdly thick eyebrows and a rather unfortunate bowl haircut, but to them, who had been contaminated by the eccentrics of Dumbledore it was rather easy to ignore these facts. The man seemed friendly enough, though there was a hint of cunning in his eyes. He waited through their first course before politely inquiring as to what brought such extraordinary gentleman (and such a fine lady) to this part of the world. They glanced at each other, and then their holy leader opened his mouth and replied with a pleasant smile: "We are looking for someone."

The owner let out a low noise of understanding. "I see, I see… Looking for someone." After a moment's pause (and a second serving of sake) he continued: "Am I correct to assume they are hard to find?"

"Not… exactly", Lupin smiled. "They are talked about a lot, but still we have no idea as to where we should search."

The owner winked knowingly. "And you are wondering perhaps I would know?"

Lupin gazed the man steadily. "Would you?"

The owner shrugged, as though trying to appear stupid and harmless and failing spectacularly. "Who knows, after all, I'm just a normal businessman, nothing special. I have been around, though… just a bit."

Lupin's lips curved into a smile again. "Is that so?"

The man showed them a set of disturbingly white teeth. "Yes." They stared at each other for a moment longer, then the man casually slipped to sit on the last open place around the table, bumping into Snape and making the other man shift uneasily at this uncomfortable invasion of his personal space. Sirius and Ron smirked openly, Hermione made an attempt to hide her smile behind her hand. Lupin didn't even blink. "We are looking for a boy called Harii of the Southern Wall."

The man looked surprised and then started to laugh. "In that case you are very lucky, sirs, because this is where they live!" He lifted his hand and waved in the direction of the enormous fields. "The Country of Field! A country with no official ninja village, so it is inhabited by the outlaws, missing-nins, runaways, village-less clans and those thirsty for power and therefore drawn here like moths to the flame." The man grinned. "This is the place where the scum of the ninja society live, under the watchful eye of his snakelike majesty, one of the legendary sannin and a missing-nin from Konoha… Orochimaru."

Hermione suddenly felt very uneasy. "The scum of the society?"

The man shrugged carelessly. "Well, most of them are worth less than a piece of something I won't repeat in a presence of a lady, but the elite… they are great warriors no doubt, but they are hardly the type you would call respectable, if you know what I mean?" Another dashing smile.

"What is a 'sannin'?" Sirius asked curiously at the same time as Snape breathed: "What do you mean 'snakelike'?" They glared at each other, but the owner just smiled jovially. "You don't know what a sannin is? You must really come from far away… Sannin are the three brilliant students of Konoha's third Hokage." Seeing their confused looks, he sighed and added: "Hokage, as in the leader. There are five kages, one for each of the five official ninja villages."

"Interesting", Hermione said with a smile. "What are the other leaders called?"

"Mizukage of the Village of Hidden Mist, Raikage of Hidden Cloud, Kazekage of Hidden Sand, Tsuchikage of Hidden Rock… and the village in the Field Country is called Hidden Sound, with Orochimaru in the lead."

Lupin crossed his long fingers in front of his mouth and leaned forward, elbows on the table. "Tell us more about this Orochimaru."

"He can't be you-know-who, can he?" Ron interrupted.

"Voldemort, huh? I doubt it", Sirius muttered.

The owner lifted his thick eyebrows at this. "Voldemort? Weird name. Never heard it before. No, Orochimaru is a born and bred konohan, like I said, pupil of the Third. He left the village after he was not chosen to be the Fourth, and I heard that before that there was some trouble with him kidnapping other ninjas and using them as guinea pigs for his twisted experiments…" The man flashed them a brilliant smile. "At some point after that he started collecting the misguided, who have not been yet revealed the immense power of youth and the – "

"Owner, get a grip", muttered a voice behind them. They all swirled to watch at the newcomer, and met the oddly white marble-like eyes of a teenaged boy. The boy had a white apron and a slightly disapproving frown as he stared down at the owner. He was being followed by another boy, who looked disturbingly like the owner – maybe his son? – and was wearing a lime green apron with sickly yellow dots and a pink frill, outdoing even Dumbledore's most hideous outfits. Both of the boys were carrying trays filled with the second course of food the owner had conveniently forgotten to pick up.

"Ah! Neji! Lee! I see powers of the youth have not failed you!" if anyone of the group had been watching, they would have noticed the owner's eyes were filled with tears. Luckily they were spared from this sight, as all of them were still ogling at the pearly eyes and smooth skin of the first boy, and trying hard not to look at the apron of the second one.

The pearly-eyed boy's eyebrow twitched alarmingly. "Don't you mean _Hatsu_ and _Ryota_, **owner**?"

The owner had the nerve to look embarrassed as he laughed aloud and rubbed his head sheepishly. "Ah, of course! I see the power of youth definitely hasn't left you, um, Hatsu!"

'Hatsu' looked miffed. "We will take care of the rest, **owner**. You go to kitchen. _Minako_ might need help."

The owner looked alarmed. "Minako? Who the h- oh, ah, Minako! Yes! Minako. Right." Another round of boisterous laughter, and the man was up, giving the guests one of his flashiest smiles. "I'm sorry, but the kitchen girl is calling. Enjoy the rest of your meal!" He lifted his thumb at them in a supposedly encouraging way and made his way to the back of the store, the second boy lifting his thumb too, crying: "That's the way, Gai-sensei!" and managing to drop the tray. 'Hatsu' closed his eyes with an expression of forced calmness, ordered the other boy to do the cleaning, let out an irritated huff and approached the table with his tray.

"I apologise for the missing half of your meal", he said emotionlessly, refusing to pay attention to the other boy, who was screaming 'yosh, I'll clean this up in half a minute, or Sakura-san won't love me!'. He arranged the food neatly on the table and then stated: "If you have other questions, I'd be happy to fill your curiosity."

Hermione frowned. The boy didn't sound happy at all; in fact he sounded like he was pulling teeth from his mouth. He didn't wait for permission, he just seated himself in the place the owner had vacated and turned his eyes at Lupin, as though he already knew he was the leader.

Lupin smiled softly – after all, this was only a kid, barely older than Ron. "Do you know anything of Orochimaru… Lee?"

Perhaps this casual approach was a big mistake, since the boy's eyebrow twitched again and he all but growled: "HATSU. WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW."

The tone made Lupin back away slightly. "We are searching for Harii of the Southern Wall… and we heard he is working under this person called Orochimaru."

The boy was expressionless as ever. "Yes."

"So, do you know anything?"

"Yes." A pause. "Why are you searching for Harii?"

Lupin glanced at the others. "Well…"

"Work?"

"No."

"Bounty?"

"No."

"Revenge?"

"…No." Lupin sighed. "Look, we… he hasn't been here all his life, now has he?"

The boy eyed him carefully. "No."

"In that case, he might be one we once knew. We want to find him to confirm this."

"I see."

After a moments silence, 'Hatsu' said almost softly: "You know next to nothing about this place. Have you any idea how dangerous it is to wander around aimlessly?"

Ron sniffed indignantly. "We have talents", he replied with casual arrogance, tapping his wand lightly.

'Hatsu' smirked. "I see", he replied with an almost evil, knowing look in his eyes, his mouth twisted crookedly. "And do you have any concept as to **our** talents?"

Ron blinked. "Well, that is…"

'Hatsu' nodded in a belittling way, his tone leaving no doubt how much he looked down on them. "I see", he said silkily. "Then your fate is to perish in an unknown land." The boy stood up and moved away with the tray before they had even time to register he had moved.

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All in all, they were rather pleased to get out of the restaurant and away from its creepy workers, especially since their last course had been served by the other boy, Ryota, and they had had an uncomfortably close view of his hideous apron. They had tried to milk some information from him too, but it seemed that they boy was rather clueless as to what went around him, or then he was too distracted to focus on what they wanted. After all, the boy had noticed he had left a broken piece of a cup lying hidden next to Lupin's left leg and therefore had failed his task, and therefore Sakura-san (whoever it was) would NEVER love him. After that he had spent nearly half an hour sobbing on Lupin's shoulder, until 'Hatsu' had returned and ushered him back to the kitchen and politely thrown their customers out.

So now they were wandering down nearly untrodden path between the fields, going towards a large forest waiting in the distance. They were silent, all of them thinking about the information they had just received.

_Hm_, Snape though with a superior sniff, _the first one to break the silence is either Weasley or the dog._

So wrong: it was Hermione. "Scum of the society, huh?" she said softly.

Lupin jumped slightly with surprise. "No, I'm sure that's not true", he said hurriedly. "After all, we all know Harry. He would never fall that low, now would he?"

Sirius smirked. "Of course not. He is my godson, and besides, he is not like Snivellus."

Lupin coughed. "Um, that's certainly true… " he started, but was shortly interrupted by Ron. "Why has he allied himself with a _snake_?" he hissed. "What the hell is he thinking? He HATES you-know-who!"

"Orochimaru is not you-know-who", Hermione said firmly, though her voice wavered slightly. Ron turned to give her a knowing look. "No", he replied unnaturally sharply, "but you fear it too."

Sirius snorted softly. "Who wouldn't?" he said almost sadly. "You've had the pleasure of knowing him, but I only knew him when he was a small child. People change, and I don't even have the comfort of knowing what he was like to begin with."

"I would hardly call knowing _Potter_ a comfort", Snape said rather loudly, clearly trying ton rile up Sirius. Hermione interrupted this by adding: "Yes, we knew him… but I would not have thought even then that he could possibly leave us so without even a goodbye. So now that I hear he has joined people regarded as criminals, allied himself with a person that sounds awfully like you-know-who and goes around causing mayhem… I really don't know what to think anymore."

That made everyone quiet down again. They had reached the forest by then, and continued to follow a bit more used way between the trees. They walked on rather aimlessly in a rather morose silence, until Sirius suddenly smirked, slapped Snape's shoulder and declared: "We are lost, aren't we old boy? Good job with the map!"

Snape bristled. "What?"

"No reason to be modest about it! You have been secretly leading us until now, and look where that got us!"

As Snape opened his mouth to an indignant reply, Hermione rolled her eyes and walked ahead, Ron following her quickly. Hermione smiled at him approvingly, and he gave her a rather nervous grin in return.

Lupin watched them leave with a resigned sigh. So they left him to his fate, now did they? Oh the hardships of being a leader! He turned to look at Sirius and Snape, who were standing a mere foot apart all but screaming at each others faces. Honestly. And they were supposed to be the respectable adults of the trip?

He had just managed to get the two of them relatively silent and moving again, when Hermione suddenly screamed.

The road ahead was blocked by a group of strangers. Strangers that had just casually jumped down from a tree as high as an apartment complex.

Lupin gasped. "Dear Merlin", he murmured. "This will be awkward…"

"No shit", Sirius breathed. "I just missed a Kodak moment of a lifetime!"

"Silence!" Snape hissed. The first stranger had just taken a step forward, his face an expressionless mask as he slowly lifted his hand.

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**A/N:** Hee, cliffy :D Finally, I've wanted to make one for ages.

If you happen to find any mistakes, kindly inform me of them and please remember that today is Monday, the worst day of the week :P and that means that absolutely nothing is foolproof.

So yeah, I'm writing this again. I already know how this should end, but we'll see just how I'm going to get there… Chapter 5 is well on its way. This time the update will come faster ;)


	5. Fingerpainting

**Chapter 5**** – ****Finger-painting**

It was one of those days again: Orochimaru had heard news of many foreign ninjas going through the Field Country, and since his village was not yet strong enough to stop the trespassers and therefore wanted to stay hidden, all Oto ninjas were grounded for a whole week.

Today was the fifth day, the day when the even the calmest of them were starting to show rather uncharacteristically murderous and testy habits. The first three days had went by relatively well, Naruto had taken the role of master of ceremonies and invented them all sorts of contests, games, and other forms of entertainment to keep them from killing each other before the sunset of the first day. He had even managed to get Kimimaro participate in The Great Instant Ramen Eating Contest – Naruto had won, hands down. During the fourth day Naruto momentarily run out of ideas, Kidoumaru insulted him about it, Naruto got angry and started yelling, Ukon and Sakon attacked him to get him to shut up, Harry defended him while Sasuke pretended not to notice (Harry could still see his sharingan activated and his leg twitching, ready to move on a moments notice), Tayuya (who had liked Harry the moment he silenced Kidoumaru the first time and after that always helped him out) came to his aid and managed to get Jiroubou in to the fight as well, and just as Kimimaro was starting to grow his bones and preparing for his first deadly dance Sensui-san stood up and let some of his immense power flare alive and fill the room. All movement stopped immediately.

So now, during the fifth day, everyone was giving each other the silent treatment, because none dared to even glance hostilely at each other now that Sensui-san had made his point across. The Sound Trio was somewhere in their respective quarters, probably plotting ways to effectively assassinate/surpass Orochimaru's Pet Team. No one had seen Kabuto-san or Orochimaru after the seclusion started, and Harry didn't even want to think what they were doing with all their spare time. Tayuya, who had managed to piss off all her teammates, was spending her time with the Pet Team, and since the Pet Team was currently in Sensui-san's quarters, Itsuki-san was there too.

Sensui-san's quarters were by far the most pleasant ones of the whole complex: the room they were in at the moment was a rather big one with shelves filled with rare books; a large table layered with neatly organised papers and folders; many plush-looking armchairs (that most likely were courtesy of Itsuki-san, Sensui-san was not really the type) in which people could rest in, and a rather furry mat that felt very nice under bare feet.

Sensui-san was sitting in one of the chairs, his right leg casually slung over the other, a book in his hand, reading in the light of a small lamp. Sasuke was sitting on another chair in almost exactly the same position on the other side of the room. Both were wearing their regular expressions of cold indifference (and in Sensui-san's case, amusement). Harry was either wandering around or flipping through books, looking for a source of amusement.

Naruto, on the other hand, had already found one. Tayuya had brought her large nail polish collection with her, and was now sitting on the mat and presenting her collection to Itsuki-san and Naruto, both of who were sitting near her and looking curious. "Ano na, Tayuya!" Naruto exclaimed, "why everyone paints their fingers?"

Tayuya shrugged carelessly. "All S-class criminals do so", she replied carelessly, inspecting one of her polishes and passing it then to Naruto. "Hey brat, put this on your fingers, it's yellow."

Naruto pouted. "But I'm not an S-class criminal", he whined.

Tayuya snorted. "You are not hokage material anymore either", she said ruthlessly.

Naruto was going to give her a heated (and loud) reply, when Itsuki-san coughed softly and pointed his finger meaningfully at Sensui-san's direction. Naruto got the hint and fell silent, swirling the small bottle thoughtfully in his hand.

"Now, Tayuya, what colour you think would suit me?" Itsuki-san asked curiously, obviously trying to make Naruto feel better, and succeeding immediately, when Tayuya and Naruto started to compare colours with Itsuki-san's skin and hair, and friendlily squabbled about what of them made his hands look too pale and what too green. It took only a minute of watching to convince Harry to join them, and in a few more minutes he had according to Tayuya's instructions painted his fingernails with a delicate dark green polish and added black swirls above it. Naruto had by then taken the task of painting his every finger with a different colour and was squealing in excitement in a rather alarming way. Harry could have sworn he heard Sasuke snicker softly; Sensui-san wasn't even trying to hide his smirk from them.

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The foreign ninjas – in other words The Great Naruto & Sasuke Search Party, alias Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka and Konohamaru - were currently busy tracking down the strange group in funny clothes. It was the easiest job imaginable, since the strangers hadn't even bothered to cover up their tracks. Or perhaps they didn't think they should… or they didn't know how to.

It puzzled Konohamaru to no end. He had grown to be a ninja, a fighter with a very short life expectancy, so it was a very strange thought indeed that there would actually be people that lived so peacefully they didn't have to worry about their tracks. How would it feel like to live in such a haze? To just wander into a hostile country in an unknown territory without a worry in their hearts. Or maybe… maybe they were just so powerful they didn't have to bother their minds with such petty things. Konohamaru gripped the handle of his kunai tighter and swallowed nervously.

Iruka-sensei must have felt the anticipation and terror build up in the teenager, since he moved to walk next to him and put his hand gently on the younger one's shoulder. Squeezing his shoulder lightly he said in a soft, calm tone: "It's alright. It's going to be fine." Konohamaru blushed and nodded, a bit embarrassed that he needed reassuring, even if it came in the form of the overly gentle Iruka-sensei. Kakashi-taichou and Sakura-san pretended they hadn't noticed anything. Konohamaru was grateful for that.

They caught up with the strange group little after midday. They sneaked carefully towards them until they were travelling together, one group on the ground and the other stalking them in the trees. The group on the ground paid them absolutely no attention: the group's only girl and a redheaded boy were talking quietly amongst themselves and the tree adults were conversing together – or more like arguing. Two black-haired males were bickering almost childishly while the third tried in vain to get them to behave. Sakura shared a confused look with Konohamaru and Iruka and turned to look inquisitively at Kakashi, who just shrugged carelessly, as if to say 'I've seen worse'. Sakura sighed softly and mouthed 'so what are we going to do?' to the expressionless copy-nin. He shrugged again and said quietly: "I guess we are going to say hello… But carefully. We know almost nothing about them, but it would seem that they know nothing about us either. We don't know how they will react, and they will not know what we are after, so chances are we can just walk out and meet them peacefully. Keep your guard up, though. Keep to your roles. Got that?" Three nods, so Kakashi nodded too and said: "Okay then, let's move out."

Leading the way he leaped forward and landed casually right in front of the strange group – a safe distance away, though. The other three landed beside him in a formation that didn't seem to be useful at all. They had good two seconds time to waste standing and ogling there before the bushy-haired girl let out a warning shout. The group reacted pretty quickly, pulling out thin wooden sticks and pointing them at the newcomers in a rather threatening manner. Kakashi barely kept himself from yawning aloud.

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Hermione shouted a warning the moment she saw a group of four jumping from the trees and landing unnaturally gracefully in front of them. Upon her shout the others also lifted their wands and pointed them at the strangers at a speed that would have made even the most skilled of aurors jealous. She felt herself fill with bride and confidence, despite the obvious lack of response from the new group. They just didn't know what her group could do, she thought dismissively.

"Wow", she heard Ron whisper. She turned her eyes quickly to him and then back at the strangers. Now that she though about it, the group was kind of weird-looking. The only girl of the group had short PINK hair. All of the males had green vests and black, long-sleeved shirts and black trousers – all too much clothes to this weather, and none of them seemed the least bit bothered by it. Not to mention that they had just jumped down from a tree as tall as an apartment house.

The first one to land, a man wearing a black mask like a thief, lifted his gloved hand and said: "Yo!"

Hermione blinked. Funnily, he was reminded of Indians, though the man did not dress like one and he had aid 'yo' instead of 'hau'... or whatever it was that the Indians said.

"Lupin…?" Snape inquired in a low voice, never shifting his gaze from the strangers.

"Yeah, Remus", Sirius whispered too. "What shall we do?"

Lupin straightened his back and took a deep breath. "Well, according to my experience and deep knowledge of foreign cultures, 'yo' doesn't sound like a hostile greeting. We should respond accordingly."

"What if it is a trap?" Snape replied snappishly.

"That is always possible", Lupin agreed, sweeping past him and turning then to give him a small glance, "but I somehow doubt that people that show that much stealth and agility would need something as underhanded as that against little old us."

Sirius shrugged. "They don't know us. Not that I'm trying to take Snivellus' side with this."

Lupin smiled. "I think they do know of us… or at least, some of us. Given the power I think they have, they would not so blatantly ignore ANY threat, even if it does come in a form of a small wooden stick. So, considering their lack of surprise or interest, they have already faced at least one of our kind before."

Ron blinked and suddenly his face lightened up. "That's right! Hey, if that's true, maybe they know something about Harry!"

"Or the boy we are assuming to be Harry", Lupin corrected with a slight smile. "But apart from that… yes."

"Well, in that case, let's get this over with, shall we?" Sirius said briskly, lowering his wand slightly and walking towards the strangers. He lifted his free hand too and shouted a cheerful 'hello!'. The man he was approaching replied immediately in a same kind of tone, and two seconds later they were standing there striking a conversation like dear old friends.

Snape shook his head with a defeated sigh. "It would seem like idiots can overcome the cultural boundaries and find a universal connection wherever they are..."

Lupin coughed softly. "Don't mock it when it's actually being useful…"

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**A/N: Hello again! It's been a while, again... But GOOD NEWS, this time! I sat one night writing and planning, so I'm actually in a pretty good point with this story. (Says I and doesn't post for the next six months... yeah, I too hope it'll be sooner) **

**Thanks for sticking with me through this mess. Feel free to inspire me!**


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